Conventional wisdom holds that the fossil record is data-poor compared to the modern record. Introductory biology textbooks always start their explanation of the fossil record by stating that it is imperfect. They point out that

Most of us are pretty familiar with frogs and salamanders, but many outside the world of natural history buffs have not heard of the third major group of living amphibians, the caecilians. Caecilians (pronounced roughly

Sign up for PLOS Updates

Thank you!

There’s just one more thing. Please check your inbox to verify your email.